This invention relates to straps useful with load-bearing garments and devices to be worn adjacent the skin, i.e., brassieres, halters, bra-less dresses and packs for summer usage, for example, baby packs.
The invention of the brassiere concept solved some problems but created others. One of these problems was to provide garment straps which were as comfortable as possible, taking into consideration the materials available for strap construction at any given time. There has always been a need for a combination of elasticity with sufficient restraint to provide the necessary breast support.
Many approaches have been taken to the solution of this problem. For example. U.S. Pat. No. 1,661,130 issued to David Rothstein, and teaches the use of an inelastic strap having, at one or both ends, a sheath into which an elastic band fits. The hidden elastic band is connected, at the top of the sheath, to the strap on one end and the garment on the other. The result is a brassiere strap which appears to be made of inelastic material along its entire length because the elastic ribbon is substantially hidden within the sheath.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,887,939 issued to Grace J. Lyons teaches a garment strap having a "take up" means made up of elastic elements combined with the inelastic strap. The elasticity of the take-up means is sufficient to take up the slack in the inelastic member but insufficient, alone, to support the garment.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,132,616, issued to Harry Hardie, teaches a strap having an elastic rubber strip enclosed by a non-stretchable fabric. The edges of the material covering the rear of the strap overlap the front of the strap on each side and are sewn to a strip of inelastic biased fabric having turned-under edges by stitching along the longitudinal edges of the strap. After the strap is sewn, the sheet rubber is under sufficient tension to normally retain the non-stretchable fabric in a shirred condition.
Another problem has existed for an equally long period of time. That is the problem of preventing the strap from curling and thereby reducing the effective support area.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,217,517 issued to Leo Lances. This patent teaches a strap made up of a flat rib (stiffener) over which a smooth cloth is wrapped. The rib is sewn to the overlapping edges of the smooth cloth to provide a stitching on the longitudinal center of the outer surface and a rear surface which is entirely smooth. This type of strap is commercially popular even today.
A third problem is the problem of wear. Thus, satin wears out more rapidly and splits when directly stitched to a ribbed elastic material. Shirred materials also wear more rapidly because the threads making up the fabric rub and abrade each other during movement of the wearer. These and other wear problems confront designers whatever the combination of fabrics, stiffeners, elasticized and/or non-elasticized materials used. By way of example, if satin is sewn directly onto an elasticized material as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 2,132,616, it wears more rapidly. This is true even where the fabric is not biased.
Modern brassiere strap designs have used newer materials to circumvent some of the above-described problems. However, no one has effectively solved the curling of wide brassiere straps to provide a comfortable effective result.
Even today, brassiere straps create depressions in the shoulders of large breasted women and even cause sufficient pressure on the underlying nerves to cause tingling or numbness in the arms. Large breasted women often still attach a pad to the strap to seek relief from the cutting action of the modern brassiere strap. These pads are very similar to those used to make back pack straps more comfortable and normally comprise a rounded, elongated pad about twice the width of the strap to be worn having a horizontal cut at each end. The strap, back pack or bra, is inserted under one end, through a horizontal incision, over the pad, through the second horizontal incision, and then attached to the brassiere or back pack. The use of such pads is mute evidence of the failure of garment and pack strap designers to solve the problem of curling and the subsequent cutting of depressions into wearer's shoulders.
A variety of straps are available and marketed by the women's garment industry for use with brassieres, halters and "bra-less" dresses incorporating brassiers into the garment. These straps come in many forms. Quite often, the straps are made of a tricot or cambric tube which is flattened so that the seam centers on one side of the strap. This permits the strap to form a "V" when worn.
Other brassiere straps come in many forms, both plain and embroidered. These straps are normally made of an elastic material which stretches in the longitudinal dimension but not in the latitudinal dimension. The bottom is woven so that it forms a soft, pile surface to provide comfort and/or prevent slippage. The upper surface is smooth and satin-like. A third form of commercial brassiere strap is made of two narrow, longitudinally stretchable fabric ribbons. These ribbons are joined by an elastic netting. Whatever the form, the result, for many women, is the formation of unsightly, and often painful, depressions where the brassiere straps pass over the shoulders.
The strap of this invention substantially overcomes the above problems in an inexpensive, effective manner for bras, halters, bra-less dresses and other devices where the strap is work adjacent the skin.